"Those thousand ‘hows’ have not helped you, why do you want to add one more 'how' to that? " ~UG

Random vs Purposeful thoughts

    In our daily lives, ‘random thoughts’ or 'thought bubbles' keep popping up all the time. 

    Merely looking at some face or flower, or listening to some sound or music, or reading some snippet or news, is enough to push us into reverie or rumination or some form of preoccupation. This distracts or hijacks natural awareness. 

    “The only difference between you and me is that you are ‘preoccupied’ and I am not.” ~UG

    UG, in this audio clip further clarifies that while random thoughts are ever present, they stay 'disconnected and disjointed' and therefore, are not all that burdensome,  

" If you don't use that (thought) for any achievement, spiritual or otherwise, then it is not a burden. Then it becomes disconnected and disjointed. " ~UG

    Apart from the random thoughts that bombard us all the time, there are the goal-oriented or the achievement-oriented thoughts. 

" Thought with motivation is the 'thought'." ~UG

    Thoughts backed by 'motivation' or 'intention' are purposeful and forceful and trigger all kinds of actions. But, chasing after some impossible, incompatible or non-existent (spiritual) goals could only lead one to misery or frustration,

" Using that thought - to achieve some goal that is not there, is misery." ~UG

    We primarily oscillate between the random or the 'chattering mode', and the purposeful or the 'thinking mode'.

    This dualistic nature of thought, 'random’ or ‘purposeful’, could be further unscrambled using the analogy of the common ‘clutch’ found in automobiles.

Intention acts the clutch of the mind.

    All of us are familiar with the mechanism of the clutch used in cars to engage or disengage the rotating engine shaft with the wheels of the car through a gear-train, aka 'transmission'.

    In the 'clutched mode', upon selection of a gear, the clutch 'engages' the engine shaft with the wheels of the car, putting them either in forward or reverse motion. 

    This 'clutched mode' could be compared to the workings of a purposeful, goal-oriented 'thinking mind'. 

    The 'clutched mode' of the mind is where 'ideas' are set into motion. UG describes this as the 'movement of knowledge'. Here, intention or motivation acts as the 'clutch of the mind' propelling thoughts or ideas into movement to achieve some goal or purpose.     

    As per UG, the side-effects of this 'movement of knowledge' are actually far-reaching, leading to stubborn illusions and delusions.

" The 'movement of knowledge' is the (illusory) 'I' or the 'self'. " ~UG

    We will leave it at that, and turn to the other mode, the 'declutched mode'.     

    Here, upon selection of the 'neutral', the clutch disengages the engine from the wheels, unloading the engine and putting the engine in the 'idle' or 'the freewheeling mode'. 

    Declutched mode is typical of our regular ‘chattering mind’. With no intention, purpose or motivation, thoughts are random, freewheeling, disconnected and disjointed. 

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  An aside: 

   Interestingly, UG coined the word 'declutched' to describe his own way of functioning. He doesn't call it the 'declutched mode' but instead, calls it the 'declutched state'.

   By the way, 'state' denotes stability and permanence while 'mode' describes volatility and impermanence. 

    UG used 'declutched state' or 'natural state' synonymously to describe his way of functioning. He also explained that in this state, thoughts played only a functional role. 

    We could think of UG's natural state as a state where thoughts work only 'on demand', and only temporarily, and only for functional reasons - whenever he wanted to visit the post office or buy cream or purchase airline ticket.

    UG emphasized that his 'declutched state' was devoid of volition or intention or purpose and explained, "thoughts cannot stay there -- there is no continuity, no build-up."

    In his innumerable talks and discussions spanning over half a century, UG described many counterfactuals ('declutched state' etc.) that help us appreciate several unknown natural phenomena.  

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    From all this, we can see that, thoughts by their very nature, are random. They do not last long, they do not build up, they do not take root unless backed by some wilful participation or intent or motive.

    The caveat therefore is clear. Any intention or motivation could easily blind us and bind us to the consequences of our actions.

    Perhaps this is the reason why, in the ancient wisdom texts of the Bhagavad Gita or Yoga Vāșișhta, the authors caution us about 'intention' ( सङ्कल्पं or sankalpam ) in no uncertain terms. 

    These classics mince no words and characterize the 'real human' or 'sage' as 'non-initiator of actions' (सर्वारम्भ परित्यागी - 'sarvaarambha parityagi'). 

    The Chinese Taoism too resonates with this truth, " Sage is purposeless, acts when he must." 

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The burden of knowledge

    Those of us working for a livelihood or taking care of families need necessarily to engage with society and strive for material goals, there are no two ways about it. We can't be freeloaders or a burden to others or society.

    And for the likes of us, dealing with the daily stresses of societal affairs, UG offers great pointers that are of immense help,

“I get affected by everything around me, but I am not involved.” ~UG

    UG makes it clear that though we have no choice but to live in society, and no choice about external events or people or places, it is within our reach to either say 'no', or give consent, or get ‘involved’ in endless affairs of the world. 

    Indulgence or dalliance could be detrimental to our health, both mental and physical.

    Intention or motivation is a very potent force. Also, it acts as the 'binding glue' for thoughts to coalesce or crystallize or solidify (as the fictitious 'I' or 'self') whenever there is intent or motive. Intention, therefore, sets the 'wheels of knowledge' (or ideas) into motion, till the goal is attained or reached.

    UG’s 'declutched state' offers a stark contrast to all this. His system was so finely tuned that the delinking or disengagement from 'engaged' thinking was total and complete, and natural,

“Sometimes the sensual memory of making love to my wife comes suddenly from nowhere. But when these thoughts try to take root there, everything in you tightens -- you don't have to do a thing. The thoughts cannot stay there -- there is no continuity, no build-up -- one knows what it is, and there it ends -- something else comes up.”                                 

                                                                                ~UG (The Mystique of Enlightenment)

  Occasionally we do witness something similar. There are rare moments in our daily lives when we suddenly or abruptly 'wake up' from daydreaming or rumination that is distracting us from the task at hand. But habits die hard and our neck-deep involvement in society doesn't help us either.

    No wonder UG cautions us again and again, “Thought is your enemy.”   

    Only when we clearly see the dangers of intentional or motivated thinking behind our actions can we refrain from getting involved or entangled in needless affairs of the world. Our intention or motivation holds serious consequences not only for ourselves but for others in the social world. 

    Thought is very potent, how it gets employed can make for fortune or calamity.  The many dangers and misfortunes associated with thought begs the question, 

    "How to be in a thoughtless state?", 

    UG answers the question in this audio clip with a resounding sound bite,

" So, you see, by demanding ‘how’ to be in a thoughtless state, you want to add more knowledge to that 'movement of knowledge', that is the trick it is playing. Through knowing more and more, more and more is burden, the movement of the known, or whatever you want to call it, is not going to come to an end, that is the reason why it is asking 'how'.

So, you have thousand ‘hows’ there, and those thousand ‘hows’ have not helped you, why do you want to add one more how to that, that is all that I am saying.

                                                                                                                                

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Audio Clip

Audio Transcription

    UG: If you don't use that (thought) for any achievement, spiritual or otherwise, then it is not a burden. Then it becomes disconnected and disjointed. 

    The continuity, the demand to continue, through the repetition of that thought, is not there. You have to experience that again and again, and again, otherwise, 'you' are not there.

    Thought with motivation is the thought, you see there are no thoughts, that's all that I am saying.

    You cannot know anything about thought, what all is there is - ‘about thought’ but not thought. There is no thought there at any time. (Thoughts are only) about thought first, and then using that thought - to achieve some goal that is not there (some spiritual goal). So, that is why, it is misery. 

    So, it has created the goal of 'thoughtless state' (Q: which is not there).

    It has accepted from the statements of those people who say that they are in a ‘thoughtless state’, so it has accepted that there is such a thing as thoughtless state and wants to be in that thoughtless state, right?

    So, it is this thought that has created the ‘thoughtless state’. How can you be in a thoughtless state through the use of what you call thought, you can’t!

    Q: Thought eliminates itself when you are in that state. 

    UG: When you don't use this (thought) to put yourself into a 'thoughtless state' or 'timeless state' the thought is not there. So, why do you have to go through this laborious process, painful process, of frightening situation to put yourself into struggle, to be in a thoughtless state?

    Q: How do you get over this thoughtless state?

    UG: You are asking how - you want to know, this I repeat again and again, what is there is (only) the movement of knowledge, the knowledge that ‘it is a thought’ and that ‘it is going to be in a thoughtless state’ and all that kind of thing, you seem to know. You actually don't know.

    So, you see, you are asking me how to be in a thoughtless state.

    So, the answer I give (only) adds to the knowledge you have of that or contradicts that knowledge. That is all that I am saying. So that is why it throws this question ‘how’ to be in a thoughtless state. So, you want to know how to be in a thoughtless state, so what will you do with that knowledge, you will think. 

    "So, you see, by demanding ‘how’ to be in a thoughtless state, you want to add more knowledge to that 'movement of knowledge', that is the trick it is playing. Through knowing more and more, more and more is burden, the movement of the known, or whatever you want to call it, is not going to come to an end, that is the reason why it is asking 'how'.

    So, you have thousand ‘hows’ there, and those thousand ‘hows’ have not helped you, why do you want to add one more how to that, that is all that I am saying.

    At least to this extent, you can be free from adding one more to that and settle for the thousand you already have and try your luck." ~UG

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